


Picture This

by HauntingHex



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!, ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6442393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HauntingHex/pseuds/HauntingHex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein first year university student Mihashi can't find Tajima in the stands and Sawamura offers to help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Picture This

**Author's Note:**

> Not really shippy so I didn't bother to tag relationships. This is unbetad.

Mihashi fiddled with the strap of his bag, a lump in his throat caused him to shuffle his thin fingers through the flap to retrieve a stainless steel water bottle. The white and blue banded plastic one Mihashi used previously had cracked at the top and was disposed of despite the lingering sentimental value it possessed. Smooth and cool to the touch, Mihashi missed the fact that he could squeeze the plastic bottle for more water. His head bobbed as he took several large gulps. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips.

He rocked on the heels of his feet as he sifted through his phone contacts. The screen didn’t signify any new messages. Only two minutes ago he asked where Tajima was seated. He surmised that Tajima hadn’t seen the text yet. He was supposed to meet the renowned cleanup hitter at the stadium, a large swath of people funneled through the gates and Mihashi craned his neck to see if recognized the freckled man in the crowd. After their first year Tajima had grown almost matching the height of Hanai.

“You lost?”

Mihashi scanned the crowd again. A man just shy of a few centimeters taller than Mihashi faced Mihashi’s direction. A messy head of brown hair, a distinct sharpness to the man’s golden eyes carried an amicable gaze. He couldn’t have been talking to Mihashi. His own eyes trailed to the side, when he looked behind him there didn’t seem to be anyone the man could have been addressing.

The man was closer now. Mihashi clutched the strap tighter, his eyes flitted in quick succession and a diminutive pull of his lips proceeded to create an illusion of confusion.

“Oi! Are you lost?”

Mihashi shook his head. It was a common occurrence during high school that others were mistaken and misunderstood his fidgety tendencies to symptoms of nervousness. On some occasions that was true, but more than anything Mihashi was excited to watch a game with Tajima. His fingers twitched at the hem of his yellow shirt since the mere thought of baseball had him itching to practice his pitches.

His fingers moved away from the fabric to press together at the tips as he stated, “No. I’m on the lookout for a friend, Tajima.”

He half expected for the man to bid him good luck on his search and carry on through the stadium archway, however the other slapped a hand on his shoulder. He stepped to the side so they were adjacent to the crowd that milled about. A bus stopped across the street. The doors opened and university students dressed in their team’s colours channeled through. A ribbon of green melded into the multitude of parents, siblings, locals and those outside the province. A few stragglers carried instruments which Mihashi deduced were most likely part of the cheer squad that would be positioned in the stands above the dugout.

“I can help you find him, Tajima you said? I’m going to look for people in the stands too. I’m Sawamura Eijun.”

“Mihashi Ren and thank you.” They walked in step, the hand that slapped his shoulder fell back to Eijun’s side.

The likeliest scenario that skirted the rim of his thoughts was probably correct. The freckled boy was predictable. “Tajima will sit near the field – ah, maybe close to the side to watch their pitchers warm-ups.”

There was that grin again, wide and toothy and Mihashi couldn’t help but think for a second that Eijun was eerily similar to Tajima in mannerisms. Interest piqued by Mihashi’s statement Eijun responded with a question, “Baseball player?”

Mihashi frantically nodded. Eijun obviously liked baseball enough to watch Yakushi University’s game today and he was nice. He wanted to be friends with this person. The imagined berating tone of Abe’s voice echoed that he shouldn’t be so nervous. They had ultimately went to different universities and Abe had lectured that he couldn’t cling to Tajima all the time. And although Abe was abrasive, brash and calculating he was a good catcher and even a friend that was looking out for Mihashi’s best interests. He knew on some level that Tajima had other interests besides baseball, even during their high school days Tajima excelled at most sports. Tajima even admitted one day that he could have pursued soccer on a whim. Outside the realm of sports his sunny disposition attracted people.

For Mihashi extending outside his comfort zone was a new endeavor. Eijun was still looking at him to which Mihashi babbled in response, “Tajima’s great! We were on the same team – uh hopefully we’ll be on the same one again once the semester starts. He plays cleanup hitter, first base, and catcher.” His fingers were raised and splayed in the air as he counted the positions in tandem with his speech.

Eijun’s brows furrowed the split grin wavered into a tight grim line. “Something wrong?”

The suddenness of Mihashi’s question broke the brief irritation that settled onto Eijun’s features. He was relaxed again so Mihashi thought nothing of it.

“You said cleanup hitter and catcher, sorry that just reminded me of someone that gets on my nerves. And what about you, you said you were on the same team?”

They scaled the steps near the middle of the stadium. A motley crew of people were seated together cheering for the other team. A stand of cameras possibly for performance reviews were slotted on tripods.

“Pitcher!”

“Me too. We should play sometime.” Blinding and infectious Mihashi returned the amiable smile with an affirmation. In the corner of his eye he saw Tajima pressed against the grey fence. His fingers laced in the chain links with an ear to the metal. His eyes must be closed, intensely focused on the rhythm of the baseball leaving the pitcher’s mitt to the loud smack when it landed in the clutches of the catcher’s mitt.

Mihashi bounced on his heels once more and warbled in his moment of excitement, “I see Tajima.” He pointed a finger to his friend seated on the concrete instead of the stand benches.

Eijun hummed. “I don’t see Miyuki or Kuramochi they must be on the other side.” Mihashi was reluctant to leave. The offer of finding Eijun’s friends was idle on his tongue.

Eijun grabbed his phone from his pocket and said, “I was serious about playing sometime. Bring Tajima too if ya want. What’s your contact info Mihashi – ahh, I was right they are on the other side?” Eijun thumbed through the menus with the on-screen keypad.

He took a step forward to lean over to see the screen. Mihashi’s own cell phone with orange plating with a dangling baseball charm was open as well. Numbers were exchanged before their farewells as Eijun waved goodbye.

“Mihashi! Who was that?”

“Tajima, you’re heavy,” Mihashi stated as his shoulders dipped under the weight of Tajima’s arm draped across his back. “That was Eijun, he helped me find you since you never answered any of my texts. He plays baseball too.”

The innocent curiosity that radiated from Tajima increased at the offhand mention of the sport. “You know what University? We could be rivals in the Fall Tournament.”

The freckled man steered Mihashi to the relatively empty bleachers on this side. The game was going to begin soon. Mihashi didn’t know about Eijun’s team. The man never revealed that information nor had he asked in their friendly exchange. His left hand still grasped the orange cell phone. As Tajima chattered about the Yakushi’s cutter pitches, Mihashi decided to tap out a message for Eijun.

-

“Idiot, what took you so long the game is about to start.”

Eijun gasped as he didn’t back step quick enough. Kuramochi dragged his knuckles on Eijun’s head, further contributing to the uncoordinated mess of locks.

“I helped someone find a friend that’s all.”

Kuramochi released the younger man from his grip and cackled, “well you’re here now. Do you think Yakushi will win?” Eijun’s response was immediate, “Of course. They don’t have Raichi yet, but Sanada is there.”

Eijun took a seat between Miyuki and Kuramochi. Around them were the family members supporting Yakushi, the cheering squad erupted in a cacophony of noise as the band began a steady beat. A united voice chanted for their victory that drowned out the opponent’s cheer.

Eijun fished for his phone again when he felt the vibrations. A message from Mihashi already asking about his team.

_Tajima says we might be rivals in the Fall Tournament. I’m from Nishiura. Do you still want to meet-up?_

He wasn’t at all deterred at the possibility. He was on good terms with Raichi despite being from rival teams. There wasn’t much room for contemplation anyways with the rush of noise that met his ears. The first inning had begun with Sanada already garnering no hits on the first two batters.

_Yes! It’ll be fun._

“You’ll miss the game if you’re glued to your phone,” Kuramochi stated. The boisterous Kuramochi failed to steal a glance at the message when Eijun promptly tucked the phone back into his pocket.

“Was it Haruichi?” Miyuki inquired.

“No. It was my new friend, the one I said I helped out earlier. He’s a pitcher for Nishiura.” Eijun turned away to watch the game. He believed that was the end of the inquiry until the playful laugh from Kuramochi gestured otherwise.

“We’re in different prefectures so we might not face them until Spring,” Miyuki said as he fixed the position of his glasses. “What’s his personality like?”

“Hey, hey scouting for information already. You just said we won’t face them until Spring.” Kuramochi wasn’t particularly interested in Eijun’s new friend, but his streak of delinquency always managed to goad the both of his teammates into quarrelling for his own amusement.

“Mihashi is a nice guy. Don’t toy with him, he’s skittish. I didn’t meet Tajima, but I’m sure he’s nice,” Eijun said, arms crossed in his definitive belief concerning the two players.

Kuramochi’s fingers flexed as he spoke, “So what did Mihashi say then?” Just the thought of tormenting Eijun was almost entertainment in itself. Although it only occurred minutes ago Eijun reached once more for his phone.

He didn’t forget what Mihashi texted, but knowing his sly teammates if Eijun recalled the text not in verbatim there was a chance either of the two would misconstrue his words. A new message from Mihashi blinked on the small screen.

_Tajima wanted to say hi since you helped me out_

Attached to the message was a picture of the two. Mihashi was flushed a shade of red from the heat. A small smile spanned his lips while Tajima crammed himself into the picture, head and shoulders brushed against Mihashi. A sharp whistle from Miyuki interrupted Eijun’s typing followed by an explanation, “Now I remember why the name bothered me. Tajima’s like Haruichi in batting but when did he get taller? He’ll be a menace to deal with in the batter’s box and with the extra strength he won’t have trouble pulling pitches all the way to the fence.”

Eijun was defenseless. Sometimes it was too easy. Kuramochi swiped the phone from Eijun’s fingers. The underclassman yelped, Eijun tried to retrieve his phone back while Kuramochi shrugged him off. He was about to return the message with something that would leave Eijun flustered at the aftermath. He tapped on the picture to enlarge it.

When Kuramochi returned the phone to Eijun the golden-eyed brat demanded to know what he did, “You didn’t say anything weird did you?” When Eijun checked his messages he found that Kuramochi hadn’t responded in place of himself. He flipped through other messages and his contact list, nothing appeared to be out of order or changed. Eijun went over everything twice just in case.

Kuramochi caught the smirk that Miyuki donned in his direction. Miyuki knew. Kuramochi actually didn’t do anything mischievous this time. A flagrant flush coursed from his neck to his face – Kuramochi thought Mihashi was cute and god damn it, Miyuki _knew_.


End file.
